Suffolk County Executive Director Steve Levy on April 2 signed into law a ban on bisphenol A in products such as bottles and sippy cups intended for children 3 and younger.
The bill will take effect in about 90 days, making Suffolk County the first governmental body in the U.S. to enact such a ban.
Similar efforts in Washington and Illinois fell by the wayside last week, cutting the number of states considering BPA bans to three: California, Minnesota and Connecticut.
In addition, three U.S. senators introduced a bill in mid-March that would ban the use of BPA in all food and beverage containers.
The Washington state bill was approved by a 75 percent majority in the state House of Representatives, but ran into a roadblock in the Senate. In Illinois, the BPA ban was pulled from consideration April 2 before a final vote because it was expected to fail, leaving it some wiggle room to return.
The federal legislation, dubbed the Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2009, is a much broader plan than one that failed in Congress in 2008. That bill would have applied only to BPA-containing products such as polycarbonate baby bottles that are intended for children age 3 and younger.